Breast pumps have long been used for removing milk from a lactating mother's breasts. These breast pumps include both powered and manual versions. In general, a manual breast pump consists of a plunger which freely slides within an outer cylinder. A seal is fitted around the outside of the plunger to seal against the inner surface of the outer cylinder. In this way, the plunger can slide within the outer cylinder to form a pump stroke. A breast flange or funnel is fluidly connected to the outer cylinder.
The mother applies suction to the breast by supporting the breast flange against the breast and pulling the plunger outwardly from the outer cylinder. Suction is created in the space which is expanded within the inside of the outer cylinder. The removed milk may be retained within the interior space of the outer cylinder or alternatively may be pumped out into a baby bottle or nurser bag which is connected to the outer cylinder.
These manual powered breast pumps of the prior art are often configured to be used with conventional baby bottles, collection containers or nursing bags. As discussed, these devices may be attached to the breast pump and function to contain the milk removed from the woman's breast. However, when using these containers, milk is often lost due to spillage or even leakage. This spillage can occur during pumping or when removing the filled container from the pump (outer cylinder), among other ways. In addition, differing collection containers can affect the performance of the breast pump by affecting the input orifice and venting, among other things. Thus, there is a need for a manual powered breast pump which may be utilized with a variety of different collection containers without affecting performance.
Often times, a woman using a conventional manual breast pump will produce and collect more milk than the collection bottle or nursing bag will hold. If the woman lacks an additional collection device, she must either discard the excess milk or refrain from pumping the excess breast milk. This incomplete removal of breast milk can be painful and may also lead to a reduction in future milk production. Carrying additional collection bottles or nursing bags is generally impractical due to their bulk. Thus, there is a need for a manual breast pump which provides additional collection space without necessitating increased size.
Additionally, a woman may desire to pump both breasts simultaneously. This allows the woman to recover a maximum amount of milk in a shorter period of time. Often this is accomplished using a powered breast pumping device. However, these devices are often only supplied with a single collection container. There is thus a need for a manual breast pump that can also be used as a second collection container in conjunction with another breast pumping device. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for such a manual breast pump to be compatible with most conventional powered breast pumping devices.
Therefore, a need exists for a manually powered breast pump which may be utilized with a variety of different collection containers without affecting the pumping or collection performance. Such a device is needed which could provide additional collection space without necessitating increased size of the pumping device and could be utilized with existing powered breast pumps. There is also a need for such a manually powered breast pump which is small in size, economical and simple to use.